Calendar

Information from Dr. Blackett:Hello K-5 and Middle School Science Teachers!The DAS STEM Fair will be held on March 21st, 2024. Below are outlines, dates, objectives and rubrics for our 2023-2024 STEM Fair. Projects should kick-off the week of January 15, 2024 (Martin Luther King Jr Day). Grades K-2 will be a classroom poster and presentation while grades 3-8 will be individual student posters and presentations. Classrooms (K-2) will finish their posters and individual students (3-8) will turn in the STEM posters on Monday March 04, 2023. Presentations, part of the overall grading rubric, will follow for the next several days in classrooms. Teachers will send me winning projects by Thursday March 07, 2024 – either the highlight of the classroom project or chosen individual projects. I will notify parents of selected students on Friday March 08, 2024 – right before Spring Break. The STEM Fair will be held in the new campus cafeteria on Thursday March 21, 2024 (this allows a few days after Spring Break for any last-minute adjustments and to sharpen presentation skills). Parents will be able to visit the select projects, and winning projects will be judged and announced that day.The important dates are:Finish/turn in posters Monday March 04, 2024Project presentations in class Monday – Thursday, March 04-07, 2024Teacher selection submitted Thursday March 07, 2024Parents notified Friday March 08, 2024Spring Break Saturday March 09, 2024 – Sunday March 17, 2024Last minute adjustments Monday March 18, 2024 – Wednesday March 20, 2024DAS STEM Fair Thursday March 21, 2024Projects should start to roll out the day after MLK, Jr Day (Monday January 15, 2024). That week would be a good time to introduce or refresh on the Scientific Method and if you want, the Engineering Design Process (see: ScienceBuddies_method-comparison_poster.pdf). There are six weeks after the kickoff before projects are due, and can be seen in an ELEVATE-DAS calendar. Below are recommended items to cover (based on the Scientific Method):Week 1· Choose Topic or Problem to Investigate· Check Resources in School or Community Library, Internet· Write Question, Materials, HypothesisWeek 2· Complete Your Background Research· Gather Materials· Start Conducting Experiment, Write Experimental Procedure and DataWeek 3· Begin Designing Display and Visual Aids· Take Photographs, if Needed· Continue ExperimentsWeek 4· Write Result and Conclusion· Have an Adult Help You Edit Your Draft for Spelling and PunctuationWeek 5· Write or Type Final Copy of Project· Double Check Your Rubric to Make Sure You Have Included Everything You Need· Draw Pictures, Charts or Graphs to Show Your DataWeek 6· Attach Final Copy to Display Board or Poster· Add Pictures or Charts if You Have Them· Set Up Display at Home & Prepare Oral PresentationRather than generating new outlines, rubrics and descriptions, I have gathered the information that Ms. Lykon, Ms. Alex and Ms. Whitcomb shared with me and placed them in one directory. These are available on the “AcademyDiscovery.Info” network as: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ncxcXtF8PBW0DnCSOuZTCEPMsmo3v9K1?usp=sharingThis google drive directory is broken into several subdirectories: STEM Fair Resources and Materials STEM Fair DAS 2020-2021 STEM Fair DAS 2022-2023 STEM Fair DAS 2023-2024The STEM Fair Resources and Materials is a directory I am adding Internet resources too. The other directories are materials from either past school years or for this school year. In STEM Fair DAS 2023-2024, I have tried to put K-2 and 3-5 (Judging Sheet Elementary.docx) and 6-8 (Judging Sheet Middle.docx) plus added historic information in further subdirectories. Finally, I will bring in examples of posters (from my own kids over several grades) and have them in December or January as examples for layouts. (The text for this email is available on the discoveryacademy.info network: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1adfBLY14-77nlthTatDrBaz260Vfi-53lc3Hbs9Z9w4/edit?usp=sharing)